Jockey Shaun McKay will undergo further tests at Waikato Hospital to determine whether he needs a plate inserted in his shoulder to assist the healing process for the collarbone he broke in a nasty fall at Ellerslie on Saturday.
McKay was riding the well-favoured Blood Warrior in the last racewhen his charge crashed heavily to the turf on the home bend after clipping the heels of Manrico, who was being angled into the clear by rider Jasmine Fawcett when insufficiently clear of McKay's mount.
Thankfully, McKay was thrown clear of Blood Warrior but knew instantly something was wrong as he tried to make his way to his feet.
"It happened pretty quickly but I knew something was wrong with my shoulder the minute I hit the ground," McKay said. "It's my first collarbone break however it's on the same side as the shoulder I hurt in a fall last season."
McKay is expecting to be off the scene for four to six weeks although he will know more after he had the injury looked at again yesterday.
The injury also put a dampener on the day for McKay's partner, fellow jockey Sam Collett, who witnessed the fall from the judicial committee room at New Plymouth.
Collett had just been suspended for a week for causing interference aboard Supreme Heights and admitted her heart was in her mouth for a few moments watching the Ellerslie race.
With Collett's suspension not commencing until after the Hastings meeting this coming Saturday, she will be pinch hitting for McKay on The Mitigator in the Group 1 Windsor Park Plate.
